South China Sea

IHO sea area 49 · 102° to 122° E, -3° to 26° N

in force
10
last 12 months
6
since 1993
2,321
categories
13

In force now · 10

  1. HYDROPAC 2249/26 · Surveys2026-08-06
    Survey operations by vessel PXGEO 2 towing eight 5-mile cables continue until 31 December in Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea; wide berth requested.
  2. NAVAREA XI 356/26 · Cable ops2026-08-06
    Seismic survey by vessel PXGEO 2 towing eight 5-mile cables in the southern Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea until 31 December 2026.
  3. HYDROPAC 2099/26 · Cable ops2026-07-21
    Cable operations are underway in the East China Sea by the cableship ILE DE RE until further notice; wide berth requested.
  4. NAVAREA XI 329/26 · Cable ops2026-07-21
    Cable ship Ile de Re is laying submarine cable in the Taiwan Strait until further notice.
  5. HYDROPAC 2412/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Dangerous wreck in South China Sea off Vietnam at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.
  6. NAVAREA XI 437/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Sunken wreck exists in northern South China Sea at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.
  7. NAVAREA XI 435/23 · Nav aids2023-12-04
    The Manila NAVTEX station at 14 degrees 30.3 minutes north, 121 degrees 3.9 minutes east is inoperative until further notice.
  8. NAVAREA XI 153/20 · Wrecks2020-04-06
    A yellow observation buoy is reported at 19-20.6N 113-45.9E in the northern South China Sea on 04 Apr.
  9. NAVAREA XI 664/19 · Wrecks2019-11-21
    An oil rig is reported to exist in the southern South China Sea at 07-42.1N 107-55.8E.
  10. NAVAREA XI 132/19 · Wrecks2019-03-07
    An oil rig is reported at 07-47.5N 108-12.0E in the southern South China Sea, and previous warnings are cancelled.

Longest in force

  1. NAVAREA XI 132/19 · Wrecks2019-03-07
    An oil rig is reported at 07-47.5N 108-12.0E in the southern South China Sea, and previous warnings are cancelled.
  2. NAVAREA XI 664/19 · Wrecks2019-11-21
    An oil rig is reported to exist in the southern South China Sea at 07-42.1N 107-55.8E.
  3. NAVAREA XI 153/20 · Wrecks2020-04-06
    A yellow observation buoy is reported at 19-20.6N 113-45.9E in the northern South China Sea on 04 Apr.
  4. NAVAREA XI 435/23 · Nav aids2023-12-04
    The Manila NAVTEX station at 14 degrees 30.3 minutes north, 121 degrees 3.9 minutes east is inoperative until further notice.
  5. NAVAREA XI 437/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Sunken wreck exists in northern South China Sea at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.

By year

93
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

By month (all years)

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

By category · since 1997

Cable ops57025%
Exercises56024%
Other30713%
Derelicts30313%
Wrecks1547%
Piracy1376%
Surveys1356%
Nav aids502%
Missiles492%
Containers352%
Debris131%
Towing70%
Volcanic10%

Archive · 2,311 cancelled

  1. HYDROPAC 4168/17 · Nav aids2017-11-29 → 2018-09-07
    Hon bay canh light 08-40.0N 106-42.4E changed to: fl (3) w 20 sec 212 meters 27 miles
  2. HYDROPAC 4163/17 · Other2017-11-29 → 2017-12-01
    F/V kh 96577TS reports crewman requiring medical assistance in 17-00N 114-20E at 280700Z nov
  3. HYDROPAC 4148/17 · Piracy2017-11-28 → 2017-12-05
    M/V reports act of piracy in vicinity 01-25.4N 104-41.4E at 262100Z nov
  4. HYDROPAC 4127/17 · Surveys2017-11-27 → 2018-01-01
    Survey operations in progress until 31 dec by M/V cgg amadeus towing six 9000 meter long cables in area…
  5. HYDROPAC 4100/17 · Exercises2017-11-24 → 2017-12-01
    Gunnery exercises 29 and 30 nov in area bound by 16-57.05N 119-50.00E, 16-48.88N 119-50.10E, 16-49.04N…
  6. HYDROPAC 4025/17 · Nav aids2017-11-19 → 2017-12-28
    South cardinal buoy 01-03.6N 103-38.8E removed
  7. HYDROPAC 4022/17 · Other2017-11-18 → 2017-12-08
    Two persons overboard from F/V thu suong in 10-20.28N 107-48.90E at 182130Z nov
  8. HYDROPAC 3951/17 · Nav aids2017-11-15 → 2018-09-07
    Isolated danger buoy established in 13-42.76N 109-14.90E
  9. HYDROPAC 3913/17 · Exercises2017-11-12 → 2017-11-18
    Gunnery exercises 17 nov in area bound by 13-19.3N 120-03.4E, 13-14.2N 120-03.5E, 13-14.2N 119-58.1E,…
  10. HYDROPAC 3892/17 · Cable ops2017-11-10 → 2017-11-16
    Cable operations in progress until 18 nov by cableship lodbrog in area bound by 22-00.7N 117-02.7E, 22-00.6N…
  11. HYDROPAC 3813/17 · Wrecks2017-11-05 → 2018-09-07
    Dangerous wrecks in: a. 13-45.00N 109-14.50E
  12. HYDROPAC 3806/17 · Wrecks2017-11-04 → 2017-11-05
    M/V bien bac 16 and vessel hoa MAI68 sank in vicinity 13-45N 109-14E
  13. HYDROPAC 3802/17 · Wrecks2017-11-04 → 2017-11-05
    M/V ha trung 98 sank in vicinity 13-46N 109-14E
  14. HYDROPAC 3780/17 · Surveys2017-11-03 → 2017-12-16
    Survey operations in progress until 15 dec by vessel towing 5000 meter long cable in area bound by 22-33-24N…
  15. HYDROPAC 3712/17 · Wrecks2017-10-30 → 2018-09-07
    Dangerous wreck in 18-49.77N 105-44.33E
  16. HYDROPAC 3709/17 · Other2017-10-30 → 2017-10-30
    M/V hong anh 69 sunk in 18-49N 105-45E at 300530Z oct
  17. HYDROPAC 3632/17 · Containers2017-10-25 → 2017-10-28
    Container adrift in vicinity 11-52.8N 116-56.9E at 250204Z oct
  18. HYDROPAC 3621/17 · Exercises2017-10-24 → 2017-10-25
    Hazardous operations in progress until 251130Z oct in area bound by 20-14N 106-35E, 20-16N 106-42E, 20-24N…
  19. HYDROPAC 3613/17 · Surveys2017-10-23 → 2017-11-28
    Salvage operations in progress until 27 nov in area bound by 01-26.0N 104-27.1E, 01-26.2N 104-27.5E,…
  20. HYDROPAC 3610/17 · Debris2017-10-23 → 2017-10-26
    Ten meter long object adrift in 13-14.7N 109-59.8E at 210410Z oct

Sea boundaries: Flanders Marine Institute (2018), IHO Sea Areas v3, marineregions.org (CC BY 4.0). Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA / coastal broadcasts.